10-04-2017, 07:11 PM
(10-04-2017, 11:50 AM)PhilHos Wrote: It bothers me to think about it, but it's true, we should be 4-0 right now. Clearly, Zampese was the wrong choice as OC (which is like sayiing poison is the wrong choice for lunch).
Based on how Lazor's called the offense, I think it's safe to say, we win the first 2 games of the year and probably do so easily.
You might be saying, "But he was the OC for Green Bay and we lost that game." Which is true. HOwever, had we opened the season with the offense playing like it did against Cleveland and the first half of GB, I think we would have come into GB full of confidence and would have built up a bigger lead in the first half. And we would not have succumbed so badly to GB's halftime adjustments. And let's not forget GB was dealing with a lot of injuries that a more confident team would've taken greater advantage of.
Even if you disagree with me about GB, we should still be sitting at least at 3-1. I know it's unlikely and, frankly, I'd rather things happen that guarantee a new HC, but it is becoming clear to me that we could very well be a playoff team this year. Though, to be completely honest, even if we do make the playoffs, we'll be one-and-done again this year, but that'll probably be enough to get Brown to want to bring back Lewis.
With our luck, we're going to end up 2 games short of making the playoffs, but we'll have played well enough that Brown will offer Lewis a contract extension anyway which he'll accept.
100% of the blame for the 1st 3 losses cannot be solely laid at Zampese's feet. I would say it's 30/70 on Andy Dalton.
The plays were there to be made and win each one of those games. The Special teams played fine and the Defense played great. In each of those 3 losses the QB missed wide open throws for touchdowns or that would have put the Bengals within field goal range. Regardless of a crappy game plan... Andy's position is the most important and he was bad when it mattered the first 4 quarters of the season, and then 2 touchdowns against the Packers... then back to missing throws and miss reading who was open in the 2nd half of that game allowed Aaron Rodgers to show up in the 2nd half and make plays when it mattered.
I hope that the success against the Browns has given Andy his confidence back and he feels emboldened to go play his best and make the throws he has the talent to make! Just because the first 2 and a half games stunk for Andy, doesn't mean that the next 12 have to. These sorts of things can toughen a guy up, too. I predict Andy gets on the right track.
